McKeever & Kotecki Shine For Duke In Blacksburg & New York

Friday, February 8

Blacksburg, Va.

All Day

Duke University

Day One

McKeever & Kotecki Shine For Duke In Blacksburg & New York

2/9/2008 12:00:00 AM | Track & Field

By: Duke Sports Information

BLACKSBURG, Va., and NEW YORK, N.Y. - The Duke women's track and field team competed in the Virginia Tech Elite Invitational on Friday and Saturday in Blacksburg, Va., while the Duke men were split between that meet and the Armory New Balance Collegiate Invitational in New York City. Two relay teams and four individuals qualified for postseason meets throughout the weekend.

Women's: On Friday night in Blacksburg, the distance medley relay team of sophomore Emily Sherrard, freshman Devotia Moore, senior captain Allison Stankavage and junior Maddie McKeever placed fourth in a time of 11:35.24. That mark qualified the quartet for the ECAC Championships in March.

McKeever took the next step individually today by being the first Blue Devil this season to provisionally qualify for the NCAA Championships. The native of Littleton, Colo., ran a personal best indoor 3,000m in 9:20.51, which placed her second by less than one-half second. She also qualifies for the ECAC's in her second event this year.

Men's: Sophomore Michael Kotecki improved upon his personal best in the high jump on Friday morning in New York by hitting a height of 6'-8.25.” Kotecki placed fifth and qualified for the IC4A Championships for the first time in his career. The mark also pushed him up to No. 2 all-time at Duke in high jump.

The Blue Devils had sophomore Tradelle Ward and freshmen Ryan McDermott come up big on Friday afternoon in the 3,000m at the Armory. Ward finished 15th in a time of 8:28.69 and McDermott was right on his heels at 17th with a time of 9:28.91. Both qualified for the IC4A's for the first time this year.

Completing the stellar weekend in the Big Apple was the 4x800m relay squad of senior captain John Brockardt, Ward, freshman Andrew Palumbo and freshman Cory Nanni. The group placed 11th with a clocking of 7:44.41, which earned them an IC4A bid.

The Duke Indoor Track and Field Team will next compete Feb. 15 and 16 at the Tyson Invitational in Fayetteville, Ark., and freshmen Christy Adamyk and Emily Schwitzer will compete in the USATF Junior Cross Country Championships on Feb. 16 in San Diego, Calif.

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